Dallas police: Boy, 11, starved to death, body dumped in woods

Dallas
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The boy's parents are in custody and it is believed he was locked in a room and starved to death as long as a year ago. It is alleged his father then disposed of his body in a densely wooded area.

Although it is believed 11-year-old Johnathan Ramsey has been missing and presumably dead for over a year, his disappearance did not come to the attention of the authorities until last week. On Friday, the boy's grandfather contacted the Dallas Police Department and told officers he had not seen his grandson for at least nine months, possibly a year.

According to Scott, the boy had died and Aaron Ramsey dumped his body in a wooded area near Ennis, Texas. As to what the couple would tell people about Johnathan, Scott said, They would give information like the child was staying with the mother or the child was in Boy Scouts, at camp, things like that.

Both Ramseys were arrested Friday. They each face one count of injury to a child, a first-degree felony.

Fox News cites police reports saying for months before his death, Johnathan was locked in his bedroom and only given bread, water, and occasionally some milk. He was locked up because of bad behaviour that included punching Elizabeth in the stomach, causing her to miscarry. The report quotes the stepmother as saying Johnathan was "looking like one of those kids you see on commercials from Africa."

On Saturday, police from Dallas, Ellis County, and the FBI began a search of the area where they believe Johnathan's body is located. But on Sunday, the search was called off. As reported by NBCDFW.com, the search was called off because of weather conditions and the dense terrain in the area. It is not certain when the search for the boy's body will resume.

As reported by WFAA-TV, other family members feel betrayed. Stella Swanson, Johnathan's maternal step-grandmother, said the Ramseys lied to everyone. There are no words...You feel like a failure. You wish you would have tried, harder, faster. Grandparents have no rights.

The 11-year-old's maternal grandparents told the station they sent Johnathan presents that were never acknowledged. They tried calling him and contacting him on Facebook with no success.

Aaron and Elizabeth Ramsey remain in the Dallas County Jail on $500,000 bail each. The charges will likely be upgraded to murder when Johnathan's body is recovered.